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“She’s right, you can’t do this here!” Zepp splutters. “This is Valentino’s! No blood, no vendettas?—”
“And as I keep telling you and your honorless kind,” I spit at him, “I’m not bound by your rules. I make my own.”
I hear Scarlett and Sarah moving into position behind me, covering the door in case those assassins change their minds.
Grandmother’s eyes narrow now, her old cunning returning. “You won’t kill me. You need me. I have information?—”
“Save it,” I cut her off. “I don’t need anything from you. Not anymore.”
Grandmother beckons me closer, her voice a sibilant whisper. “Come closer, child. Let me tell you who your mother really was.”
Warily, I lean in, but I catch the glint of metal in her hand a split second later. She lunges, a stiletto switchblade aimed at my throat. I react on pure instinct, twisting her wrist and reversing the blade’s trajectory. It sinks into her chest with a sickening thud.
“See? I know all your tricks,” I hiss into her ear. “You have nothing more to teach me.”
“No,” she chokes out, disbelieving. “I…made you…”
“And now I’ve ended you.”
I make sure to watch the life fade from her eyes. And when I glance up at Scarlett and Sarah, I see that they’ve joined hands, comforting each other as they watch and witness. I gesture them forward and there’s relief in their relaxing shoulders as they each look closely at Grandmother to make sure, to confirm the end of their abuser.
No mistakes this time.
“It’s done,” I say, my voice steadier than I feel. Then I look at Zepp, who is staring, bug-eyed, at Grandmother’s corpse, as though he’s never even seen a dead body before. “As for you…your daughter would like a word.”
I nod at Scarlett, who opens the door to let Hadria enter, her arm still in the sling but her eyes as glacial as I’ve ever seen them.
“Hello, Papa,” she says, raising a gun. “Goodbye.”
The silenced shot is done before I can even take my next breath, Zepp’s eyes still open as he slumps in his chair with a small red circle in the middle of his forehead that begins to trickle out a rivulet of blood a moment later.
As we move to leave, I cast one last look at Grandmother’s body. The monster of my childhood, reduced to a crumpled form on expensive carpet. I feel…
Not triumphant. No. But free.
Finally, truly free.
In the main dining room, Johnny de Luca is drinking at the bar on the far side as the maître d’ talks to him in fast, frantic Italian, arms waving around in a very un-Valentino’s-like manner. Hadria and I walk over to him, Hadria wearing an apologetic face.
“I’m very sorry if we’ve made your first night as the new owner a little difficult, Mr. de Luca.” She pulls out a check and puts it down on the bar. “This should cover the cost of the cleanup, plus a little extra for your trouble. And, of course, a bonus for the staff here tonight, too.”
The maître d’ stares at the number of zeroes on the check, his indignation fading into stunned disbelief.
“Not at all, ladies,” Johnny says, tipping his glass to us. “Valentino’s is a wonderful establishment, but I’m looking forward to making a few changes around here. I’m sure I’ll—how did you put it?” He looks at me. “I’ll enjoy my new career in the food service industry.”
I snort. “I just bet you will.”
“And the two ladies who stepped out?” Hadria asks delicately.
“Gone,” Johnny says. “You need to track them down?”
“I don’t think so,” I break in. “I think if they need us…they’ll find us. Everyone knows the Styx Syndicate.”
“They certainly will now,” Johnny says with a grin.
Outside, as we all scatter on our chosen escape paths before word can get out about exactly what transpired in the venerable Valentino’s tonight, Scarlett and I duck down a dark alley to take a shortcut back to the car.
“Didn’t you want to know?” she asks, as we get in and I start the engine.
